HE will race into Scottish cycling in the slipstream of greatness.

His drive, though, is fuelled by his experience of working in one of the greatest sporting programmes.

Gary Coltman arrives at Scottish Cycling as head of performance as Sir Chris Hoy speeds off into retirement but it is a synchronicity that is full of possibilities for the new arrival.

Hoy will not disappear into the sunset and Coltman, formerly the performance manager of British Cycling's Olympic talent programme, believes Britain's greatest Olympian with six golds can have an inspiring input to the nation's hopes of success.

"I won't say that there is no reason we cannot see another Chris Hoy," says Coltman who saw the Edinburgh-born cyclist's achievements at close hand. "There is only one Chris Hoy but there is no reason why other athletes could not come through to success in the same way."

Coltman, who worked for British Cycling for 10 years after a cycling career that included a Commonwealth Games medal in team pursuit in the 1986 event in Edinburgh, will seek a meeting with Hoy.

"I would love for that to happen and I am confident it could," he says. "He is such a nice guy, a great character and a role model. His work ethic is unbelievable and his presence would be influential, whether that be in a room with the athletes or even standing looking over the track. To have the opportunity for that to be communicated to the athletes would be phenomenal."

Coltman has another legacy from the great rider. The Sir Chris Hoy velodrome stands impressively in the east end of Glasgow and Coltman is blunt about its purpose.

"How do you use it? That is the question. It is a magnificent facility but sitting there on its own won't do it for us. We have to squeeze everything out of it," he adds.

This is an echo in this of the ethos of David Brailsford, performance director of British Cycling and general manager of Team Sky. Brailsford has guided British cyclists in a run to glory that has brought a deep seam of Olympic gold and a Tour de France success for Bradley Wiggins.

Coltman worked with Brailsford for 10 years and has one over-riding memory. "He once talked to coaches for 10 minutes and every one of us went away saying: 'I know what I need to know, I know what my job is'.

"The greatest thing that he demonstrates is clarity. This is where I saw a big difference from the previous era. Everything at British Cycling is built around Olympic success and everyone is focused on that and knows exactly what they need to do to achieve it.

"If they go off in another tangent, they are reminded what they are there for. It was about winning Olympic medals."

Coltman is now charged with producing winners at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year and then at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. He will use his experience as a team manager, a coach and an athlete to find a path to success.

"As an athlete, you have drive and determination and you take that straight into the job but I could not imagine going through my life having a job that isn't challenging and something I have to give my best to the whole time. That is how you are as an athlete and it is how I am as a manager."

He has learned from Brailsford and from his own work that he must build a sure foundation before enhancing the programme.

"We need to keep things simple, do the basic stuff at world-class level and introduce things later," he says.

Brailsford, famously, would concentrate on getting the detail precisely right, trusting that the accumulation of small things would lead to a significant change in performance and results.

Coltman sees no reason to change a winning system but will bring his own experience and talent to Scottish Cycling, an organisation that works across six disciplines: BMX, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, road track and cycle speedway. He is an 11-time champion across road, track and mountain bike and has the added advantage of knowing just how the sport was run before the advent of Peter Keen and Brailsford as the driving forces behind a cycling revolution.

Coltman, who has helped nurture and develop such talents as Dani King and Laura Trott, will not be drawn on naming the young Scots he believes can go on to conspicuous success.

Scottish cycling has produced greats such as Robert Millar, Graeme Obree, Craig McLean and Hoy and Coltman, a product of Nottingham, accepts there may be something in the national psyche that makes for successful performers.

"They are tough characters," he says. "Things are not made easy for Scots, they have to travel a lot, and things are not handed to them on a plate. You have to get off your backside and work to achieve."

He is also looking forward to watching the product of his and his staff's labours at the Commonwealth Games and beyond.

"There is a huge amount of passion in competing for Scotland," he says.

This truth will be loudly proclaimed when he steps into the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome next year.